Page 18 of The Foul Out

“Want to dance, little man?” I asked, bobbing my head left and right.

Puff shook left and right and left again, making the three kids giggle.

With a finger in the air, I spun it, and Puff imitated the move, turning in a circle. When he stopped, he zeroed in on Avery and squawked.

In a way only someone who’d spent their days around animals could do, she dipped her bare hand into the small bucket and tossed a dead fish his way.

Puff caught it mid-leap.

Christian groaned. “Gloves, Blondie.”

Avery pinched her fishy fingers together like she was going to launch into the chicken dance and moved toward her fiancé.

Chris shuddered and took a big step back. The dude was a total germophobe. “I say this with enormous amounts of love.” He shook his head. “Don’t touch me until you wash away the fish guts.”

Laughing, Avery shuffled even closer.

I wasn’t big on the whole lovey-dovey thing, but it was hard to deny that they were adorable. Barf.

With a grunt, Christian took off at a full sprint.

“No fair,” Avery complained. “I’m nowhere close to as fast as you are.”

“I’ll get him for you, Av.” Mason chuckled and took off after his friend.

“Traitor.” Christian glared at him.

But now all three kids and Asher were running too.

Squawking, Puff fluttered into the air, then landed on the ground in front of Emerson and Gianna.

Emerson, our happy-go-lucky third baseman, bounced on his feet, a dopey smile pulling at his lips.

“Go.” Gi rolled her eyes at her fiancé. “I’ll watch the bird.”

Emerson shot forward, tripping over his own feet. He righted himself quickly, and then he was off. It only took a moment for him to catch up to the group. The guy was the fastest of all the Revs. Hell, he was one of the fastest players in the league.

“They are ridiculous.” Gianna shook her head as Puff pecked at the grass, inching closer to Rory.

Rory took a step away, her shoulders creeping up to her ears. For months, we’d been giving her crap about not liking Puff. So much so that she tried hard to hide her hesitation these days. I stepped between her and the bird, willing to be her shield. I had a favor to ask of her anyway. With my back to the chaos, I smiled.

“I swear he’s adorable. Cutest thing ever,” Rory promised, wide-eyed.

I chuckled. “We all know you like him better when he’s wearing a harness. But I need a favor.”

She pulled her long blond hair over her shoulder. “What’s up?”

Exhaling, I glanced at Harper. Neither she nor Piper had moved from the grass by the dugout, and I had yet to figure out why. I scanned our surroundings. The bright, warm sun, the earthy scent of dirt and grass, the murmur of voices. It was all subtle to me, but Piper was probably far more affected by it all, and she likely picked up on things I couldn’t even sense. I’d deal with her in a minute. Right now, her mother’s issue was more pressing.

“See the redhead?”

“With Zara?”

I nodded. “Her left palm is injured. It’s bruised pretty deeply, and she flinches when she moves her hand. Can you see if it needs an X-ray?”

She shrugged. “I’m not a hand expert.” Her work with the Bolts focused on the head and neck. “But I’ll look, and I can take her over to Langfield Corp if she needs one.” She studied Harper, her expression thoughtful. “She’s the one who caught the ball last night, right?”

I nodded.

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